Wolf Down

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Wolf x Down
Wolf Down play in Oberhausen, 2017.
Wolf Down play in Oberhausen, 2017.
General information
origin Ruhr area , North Rhine-Westphalia
Genre (s) Hardcore punk
founding 2011
resolution 2017
Website www.conspiracyofarsonists.com/
Last occupation
Tommy
Tobias (since 2013)
Sven
Dave
Pascal
former members
Merlin (until 2013)
Larissa (until 2014)

Wolf Down (spelling: WOLF x DOWN ) was a German hardcore punk band founded in the Ruhr area in 2011 . The band broke up in July 2017 after two band members faced allegations of sexual violence and rape.

By the time they broke up, the group had released two albums and three EPs, which made them widely known in the European hardcore scene. Wolf Down toured Europe several times in their active career.

history

founding

The band Wolf Down was founded in the middle of 2011 in the Ruhr area . Founding members are singer Larissa, guitarist Tommy, bassist Merlin and drummer Sven. The group played the first concert on June 1st, 2011. The musicians played in different groups beforehand. Tommy was active in the counterpoint and endbringer group, while Sven and Larissa played in Sink or Swim . Merlin joined the two musicians at Sink or Swim in order to be able to do the band's last shows with them. Immediately after the band Sink or Swim broke up, Wolf Down was born.

In the summer of the same year, the group was able to gain stage experience for the first time as part of a smaller international concert tour. The concerts took place in Switzerland , Italy and France . Shortly after it was founded, the group was also able to contractually agree to work with the record company Catalyst Records . In 2011, the group's first EP was MMXI . A year later the band's second EP followed with Renegade . The group canceled a previously promised performance at Edge Fest in the Netherlands on October 22, 2011. The reason given by the musicians was that the festival organizer, Thomas V. (known as Terror Tom ), was a well-known former neo-Nazi .

"As it became apparent that the co-promoter of this year's EDGE FEST in Best, NL and owner of the new clothing company Xlions roarX," Terror Tom ", is the well-known neo-Nazi [Thomas V.], we ' re NOT gonna play EDGE FEST on oct.22. "

- Official statement from the band

Thomas V. admitted in his statement that he had been active in the right-wing scene in the past, but he regards this time as a mistake. He left the right wing for a long time. He criticized the musicians for their decision to cancel the festival without first talking to him about the background of his past.

A tour through Russia , which was to take place in 2012, has been canceled.

Debut album: Stray from the Path

In March and April 2013 Wolf Down played again in several European countries as co-headliners of Demonwomb from Austria. The band played in Switzerland , the United Kingdom , France , Belgium and Germany .

In the middle of 2013, the debut album Stray from the Path was released , which was received extremely positively and brought the band an enormous degree of popularity in the scene, which led to appearances at the Fluff Fest in the Czech Republic and the Ieper Hardcore Fest in Belgium . In the meantime the group had received requests for tours in South America , Southeast Asia and Australia . The Brazilian independent label Seven Eight Life Recordings and the Learn To Trust Records label released the debut album in South America and Southeast Asia. The album was released in Australia via Life Lair Regret Records . The album was initially only available as a vinyl record and as a download , a CD version was only released about three months after the album was released.

In the meantime, Merlin left the group, so that Wolf Down no longer had a permanent bassist. The post was sporadically occupied by Lukas ( Gone to Waste ), Sandro ( Demonwomb ) and Pascal from Sundowning on concert tours. As a second guitarist, the group was able to integrate Tobias into the band. Between January 3 and 17, 2014 Wolf Down played a European tour with the US band Benchpress . This led through the United Kingdom , Germany , Italy , Belgium , Hungary , Austria and the Czech Republic . The group also toured Spain and Portugal .

Between May 17, 2014 and June 1, 2014, the group toured East Asia for the first time. The concerts took place in Japan , the People's Republic of China , the Philippines , Indonesia , Malaysia and Singapore . In Malaysia and Singapore the group was supported by the hardcore band Overthrown . On June 21, 2014 the group played at the Summerblast Festival in the Excellence House in Trier .

In August 2014 the band announced that Larissa had left the group and that they were looking for a replacement from now on. The band made their first appearances in autumn 2014 with Dave at the microphone, who was finally confirmed as a permanent singer of the band in January 2015.

Liberation EP, album Incite & Conspire and Separation

In May 2015 Wolf Down released the first EP with singer Dave. This received two new songs with Torch Of Reason and Flames Of Discontent . In August the band played some support concerts on the Stick to Your Guns and The Story So Far tour . During Bane's farewell tour between October and December 2015, Wolf Down played a few concerts in Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Hungary.

Incite & Conspire , the follow-up album to Stray From The Path , was released on February 5, 2016 on End Hits Records and contains eleven songs. Together with Stick To Your Guns , Stray From The Path and Counterparts, Wolf Down went on an extensive European tour between February 4th and 27th, 2016.

resolution

At the end of July, a guitarist in the band was accused in a blog post by two women of raping and sexual violence against them. The band commented extensively on their Facebook page. After the band's former singer publicly showed solidarity with the victims and named the sexist behavior within the band as the reason for her departure, Wolf Down broke up.

Band name, lyrics and position on the hardcore scene

Band name

The name "Wolf Down" comes from the English term "to wolf down", which translates as "greedily swallowed" or "hastily devoured". For the musicians, the name stands in the context of human actions in the modern world with its fatal consequences.

“We see in the name a reference to human activity in the modern world with its fatal consequences. Blind consumption by abundant and throwaway societies, which without any sustainability and a domination of nature constructed through dualisms, approvingly accept the disrespectful destruction of planet earth, with the conscious exploitation and progressive destruction of all its inhabitants, with a casual shrug and thus ultimately their own Shovel a grave. "

- Merlin to Stageload about the name of the band and its meaning

The "X" in the band name means that the musicians partly or completely follow the straight-edge way of life. In addition, all musicians within the group are vegan .

Texts

Compared to the predecessor group Sink or Swim , which mostly took up topics critical of religion , this subsided with Wolf x Down, as the musicians all see themselves as atheists . However, the musicians stated that they want to continue writing songs that are critical of religion, as they see religion “not as an answer, but as part of the problem”.

The pieces also deal with criticism of rule, but in 2014 two members of the band gave an interview for Die Welt , which is owned by Axel Springer Verlag . In addition, the musicians try to accommodate their own emotions and to write about interpersonal , political and socially critical topics. The band wants to differentiate itself from other straight-edge bands whose lyrics are about this way of life and vegan lifestyles.

Position on the national scene

The musicians of Wolf x Down see the German hardcore scene divided. They describe that fans abroad are "more grateful" than in their own country, although in Germany , in their opinion, there are also "grateful" fans. The group is of the opinion that large concert agencies are now envisioning a lucrative profit from the hardcore scene and that the commercialization of the scene is on the rise.

"As elsewhere, the HC scene is divided, or shall we say quietly split, into a" mainstream "part, from people who only run to big events and" dress coolly "into a beatdown part with various male gangs, uh "Crews", and a politically interested DIY old school scene close to punk. [...] Unfortunately, "commercial" hardcore is on the advance thanks to "professional" booking agencies who are trying to cut a large piece of the HC pie. "

- Drummer Sven and guitarist Tommy on the development of the German scene

However, they also describe that hardcore in Germany is still fun and well organized. For example, they tie this to organizers who are able to organize DIY shows.

Discography

EPs

  • 2011: MMXI
  • 2012: Renegades
  • 2015: Liberation

Albums

Web links

Commons : Wolf Down  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ WOLF DOWN disintegrate: allegations of sexual abuse against guitarists. Away from Life, July 27, 2017, accessed July 27, 2017 .
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l Aljoscha Napp: Stageload : Interview with Wolf x Down
  3. ↑ a b c d e Patrick Siegmann: Stageload : Wolf Down in an interview
  4. ↑ a b Straight Edge Worldwide : WOLF X DOWN PULL OUT OF EDGE FEST DUE TO TIES TO NEO-NAZIS
  5. ^ A b c Felix M .: Allschools Network : WolfxDown - Interview
  6. ↑ Straight Edge Worldwide : WOLFxDOWN UK, Euro Tour dates ( Memento from March 14, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
  7. ↑ Partyausfall.de : WOLF DOWN - European tour with BENCHPRESS in January 2014
  8. ↑ Corepoint Magazine : Wolf Down, video from the previous tour on the Iberian Peninsula ( Memento from March 14, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
  9. ↑ Facebook : Wolf Down Stray From The Path South East Asia Tour
  10. ↑ Patrick Siegmann: Stageload : The Ultimate Summerblast Festival - More bands for the final edition
  11. ↑ Outspoken : WOLFxDOWN: Singer Larissa leaves!
  12. ↑ AWAY FROM LIFE: Wolf Down - Liberation EP | AWAY FROM LIFE. Accessed December 22, 2015 (German).
  13. ↑ Bane announce final European tour dates with Code Orange, others - News - Alternative Press. In: Alternative Press. Retrieved December 22, 2015 .
  14. ↑ Wolf Down - Interview about the new album "Incite & Conspire". Away From Life, accessed December 22, 2015 .
  15. ↑ Simon: Away from Life : WOLF DOWN - Interview about the new album "Incite & Conspire"
  16. ↑ Wolf Down Outing. Retrieved August 12, 2017 .
  17. ↑ Wolf Down Outing. Retrieved August 12, 2017 .
  18. ↑ Marcel Braune, Karl Keim: Die Welt : Don't drink, don't smoke, don't f *** , published on March 12, 2014